diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/annotation/MessagePackNullable.java b/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/annotation/MessagePackNullable.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a3ec9a55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/annotation/MessagePackNullable.java
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+//
+// MessagePack for Java
+//
+// Copyright (C) 2009-2010 FURUHASHI Sadayuki
+//
+//    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+//    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+//    You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+//    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+//    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+//    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+//    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+//    limitations under the License.
+//
+package org.msgpack.annotation;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+@Target(ElementType.FIELD)
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+public @interface MessagePackNullable {
+}
diff --git a/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/util/codegen/DynamicCodeGen.java b/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/util/codegen/DynamicCodeGen.java
index 50cedd5a..7bee45d2 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/util/codegen/DynamicCodeGen.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/org/msgpack/util/codegen/DynamicCodeGen.java
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ import org.msgpack.Packer;
 import org.msgpack.Template;
 import org.msgpack.Unpacker;
 import org.msgpack.annotation.MessagePackOptional;
+import org.msgpack.annotation.MessagePackNullable;
 import org.msgpack.template.OptionalTemplate;
+import org.msgpack.template.NullableTemplate;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -253,7 +255,6 @@ class DynamicCodeGen extends DynamicCodeGenBase implements Constants {
 	}
 
 	Template createTemplate(Field field) {
-		boolean isOptional = isAnnotated(field, MessagePackOptional.class);
 		Class<?> c = field.getType();
 		Template tmpl = null;
 		if (List.class.isAssignableFrom(c) || Map.class.isAssignableFrom(c)) {
@@ -261,12 +262,15 @@ class DynamicCodeGen extends DynamicCodeGenBase implements Constants {
 		} else {
 			tmpl = createTemplate(c);
 		}
-		if (isOptional) {
-			// for pack
+		if (isAnnotated(field, MessagePackOptional.class)) {
+			// @Optional types
 			return new OptionalTemplate(tmpl);
-		} else {
-			return tmpl;
 		}
+		if (!c.isPrimitive() && isAnnotated(field, MessagePackNullable.class)) {
+			// @Nullable reference types
+			return new NullableTemplate(tmpl);
+		}
+		return tmpl;
 	}
 
 	private boolean isAnnotated(Field field, Class<? extends Annotation> with) {
diff --git a/java/src/test/java/org/msgpack/TestAnnotations.java b/java/src/test/java/org/msgpack/TestAnnotations.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d6eb3d8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/src/test/java/org/msgpack/TestAnnotations.java
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+package org.msgpack;
+
+import org.msgpack.*;
+import org.msgpack.object.*;
+import org.msgpack.annotation.*;
+import static org.msgpack.Templates.*;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import java.util.*;
+import java.math.BigInteger;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import junit.framework.TestCase;
+
+public class TestAnnotations extends TestCase {
+
+	@MessagePackMessage
+	public static class MyClassVersion1 {
+		// required field, not nullable.
+		public String name;
+
+		// required and nullable field.
+		@MessagePackNullable
+		public String nickname;
+	}
+
+
+	@MessagePackMessage
+	public static class MyClassVersion2 {
+		public String name;
+
+		@MessagePackNullable
+		public String nickname;
+
+		// adds an optional field on version 2.
+		@MessagePackOptional
+		public int age = -1;
+	}
+
+
+	@MessagePackMessage
+	public static class MyClassVersion3 {
+		public String name;
+
+		@MessagePackNullable
+		public String nickname;
+
+		// adds required fields on version 3, then
+		// this class is NOT compatible with version 1.
+		public int age;
+
+		// optional field is nullable.
+		@MessagePackOptional
+		public String school;
+	}
+
+
+	@Test
+	public void testBackwardCompatibility() throws Exception {
+		MyClassVersion1 v1 = new MyClassVersion1();
+		v1.name = "Sadayuki Furuhashi";
+		v1.nickname = "frsyuki";
+
+		byte[] bytes = MessagePack.pack(v1);
+
+		MyClassVersion2 v2 = MessagePack.unpack(bytes, MyClassVersion2.class);
+
+		assertEquals(v1.name, v2.name);
+		assertEquals(v1.nickname, v2.nickname);
+		assertEquals(v2.age, -1);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testForwardCompatibility() throws Exception {
+		MyClassVersion2 v2 = new MyClassVersion2();
+		v2.name = "Sadayuki Furuhashi";
+		v2.nickname = "frsyuki";
+		v2.age = 23;
+
+		byte[] bytes = MessagePack.pack(v2);
+
+		MyClassVersion1 v1 = MessagePack.unpack(bytes, MyClassVersion1.class);
+
+		assertEquals(v2.name, v1.name);
+		assertEquals(v2.nickname, v1.nickname);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testNullFields01() throws Exception {
+		MyClassVersion1 src = new MyClassVersion1();
+		src.name = "Sadayuki Furuhashi";
+		src.nickname = null;
+
+		byte[] bytes = MessagePack.pack(src);
+
+		MyClassVersion1 dst = MessagePack.unpack(bytes, MyClassVersion1.class);
+
+		assertEquals(dst.name, src.name);
+		assertEquals(dst.nickname, src.nickname);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testNullFields02() throws Exception {
+		MyClassVersion1 src = new MyClassVersion1();
+		src.name = null;
+		src.nickname = "frsyuki";
+
+		try {
+			byte[] bytes = MessagePack.pack(src);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			assertTrue(true);
+			return;
+		}
+		assertTrue(false);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testNullFields03() throws Exception {
+		List<String> src = new ArrayList<String>();
+		src.add(null);
+		src.add("frsyuki");
+
+		byte[] bytes = MessagePack.pack(src);
+
+		try {
+			MyClassVersion1 dst = MessagePack.unpack(bytes, MyClassVersion1.class);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			assertTrue(true);
+			return;
+		}
+		assertTrue(false);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testNullFields04() throws Exception {
+		MyClassVersion3 src = new MyClassVersion3();
+		src.name = "Sadayuki Furuhashi";
+		src.nickname = null;
+		src.age = 23;
+		src.school = null;
+
+		byte[] bytes = MessagePack.pack(src);
+
+		MyClassVersion3 dst = MessagePack.unpack(bytes, MyClassVersion3.class);
+
+		assertEquals(dst.name, src.name);
+		assertEquals(dst.nickname, src.nickname);
+	}
+}
+